There are times that, as I play Minecraft, I stop and tell myself that what I’m doing really isn’t fun, and yet I continue to do it anyway.

Minecraft, for those that have never heard of it, is a freeware browser-based game by Marcus Persson.  Calling it a game at the moment is perhaps a bit of a stretch, but calling it “something you do” just doesn’t roll of the tongue quite as easily.

The basic premise of Minecraft is simple: you generate a world, built of cubes of various materials, and then you walk around in it.  Now, while that doesn’t sound particularly interesting, the key part is the next bit: you can also destroy those cubes, or build new ones.  Armed with only his fists, your little avatar is a digging machine at the click of a mouse button, able to burrow his way through any terrain in an instant.  And if you tire of destruction, simply clicking the other mouse button turns him into a stacking dynamo, able to pile blocks upon each other in a tower to stretch to the heavens.

Honestly, that’s really all there is to it, and while it may not seem like much, I can attest from experience that there is something amazingly zen about the entire thing.  First of all, the generated worlds are lush green and blue terrains, full of rising and falling hills and deep, clear oceans.  Cubic trees cover the landscape, and angular clouds linger overhead.  In a new, empty Minecraft world, there is a lot of pleasure in simply walking around, seeing what has been put together for you.  Start digging, though, and soon you discover even more; hidden beneath the surface world are chains of humongous caves, twisting down deep into the rock.  To me, there is something strangely thrilling about tunneling into the unknown and emerging into a sprawling cavern, an underground lake sitting undisturbed into the middle.  Sometimes, if you dig deep enough, you may even strike lava, it’s blazing red glow a sure sign that you’ve gone pretty damn deep.

If you tire of exploration, the flip side of Minecraft can be found in creation.  With a palette of twenty or so different types of blocks available to you, and industrious player can craft some pretty amazing things.  I started off quite humbly, with an underground labyrinth and then an above ground house.  Once I got a little more inspiration, I started a large castle with an outdoor garden.  That said, the things I created on my own paled in comparison to what some of the other players on my server created (did I mention you can play in the same world as others, if you choose?  Well, you can).

From giant sprite-art to underground glass cities to towering monuments to Canada, I’ve seen industrious players create some amazing things in a short amount of time.  Exploring some of these creations is a fascinating experience, as everyone does things a little differently, and things are almost always in a state of flux.  What was a big empty pit one day could become a half-filled lake with an island city in the center on the next.

Beyond that, I admit, there really isn’t much to do.  For those that pay to purchase the game, there is an under-development “Survival Mode” where the player must deal with roaming enemies such as zombies and skeletons.  Currently, there isn’t much to it, but Persson continues work on it and adds new features relatively often.  I do admire his “play-to-develop” set up, where he makes all new builds playable and counts on people purchasing the game as it is built to fund further development.  Whether this model is ultimately successful is something only time will tell.

Despite the seemingly limited amount of things to do, something just keeps drawing me back to Minecraft.  Perhaps it is simply strolling around, seeing what else has been built, or perhaps it is the almost hypnotic sound of blocks breaking as I tunnel through the earth, interspersed with the calming piano music that occasionally pipes in, but playing Minecraft is just a relaxing experience no matter how I look at it.  So, if you’re looking for a nice break from those games that have the gall to ask you to actually do something, I suggest you give Minecraft a try.  Hidden treasures await, and all you’ve got to lose is time…